Curious what your nerdier friends will be chatting about at the bars this weekend? Deeply confused about the dorky stuff trending on Twitter? Gaming Week In Review is here to break down the biggest stories from the past week.
The Order : 1886 – too short for $60?
The Order 1886 is a game that has been a long time coming from Sony. After an E3 reveal alongside the PS4 itself, the first console game from Ready At Dawn (best known for their PSP God of War titles) experienced several delays leading to its release this week. But some fans are starting to wonder just where all that time went when a video play-through leaked onto YouTube earlier this week.
The video clocked a full play of the game (on normal difficulty, without finding all collectible items) at just five-and-a-half hours. The video was quickly pulled down, but the damage was done. In addition to the short runtime, viewers were also quick to criticize the ratio of playable content to unplayable cinematics. Ready at Dawn commented on the situation to Develop and insisted that “we targeted a very good length for the game, but it wasn’t our priority. It’s not something people are going to think is short.” Unfortunately for the studio, early reviews seem to agree with a playtime that averages around 6 hours, with very little replay value.
Amiibos trapped at sea?
If you’ve been searching for a New 3DS XL, a WiiU GameCube Controller Adapter, or some new Amiibo figures only to be met by a barrage of “sold out” signs, you’re not alone. In fact, it seems like all of Nintendo’s recent hardware releases have been plagued by a lack of stock available for the hungry masses. In this week’s Investor Meeting, Nintendo Chief Executive Officer Satoru Iwata commented on the situation and offered an explanation. A recent west coast port strike has left a significant amount of stock from Japan stranded on several cargo ships waiting to be unloaded. Fortunately the shortage hasn’t affected the incoming shipments of software – which are light enough to be moved by air, instead of relying on ship transport.
Rock Band revival incoming?
Whether you’re a metal head, an alternative junkie, or a pop princess, there’s a good chance you have some affinity for the Rock Band franchise. The great plastic instrument fad of the mid-2000s gave us a generation of genius rhythm games, from Harmonix’s original rock ensemble masterpiece to Activision’s ahead-of-its-time EDM frenzy DJ Hero. But over-saturation killed the market for new music games in the U.S. and left gamers without a next-gen portal to the Rock Band experience. However, if a growing list of cryptic signs are to be believed, a new Rock Band game may be coming on the horizon.
It all started about a month ago, when new DLC songs suddenly appeared on the service after a 21-month hiatus. This was shortly followed by a survey asking fans of the franchise what they’d value most in a hypothetical new iteration. Recently Bloomberg Business spoke to “a person familiar with the plan” who claimed development was already in progress on a new Rock Band for PS4 & Xbox one. As to when we’ll know more, it’s looking like PAX East may be the spot. Vendors at PAX often offer pins to hand out to fans, which are revealed in advance. Every major vendor was eager to show off its new design, sans Harmonix, who left its an intentional mystery. PAX East is March 6th through the 8th.
Follow Chris Berg on Twitter @Mushroomer25